Hunger Game Theory
by JillianWatson1058
Summary: Hunger Games AU: "Because you're the only one who can win the games, Shizu-chan, and because I know you're the only one who doesn't want to." Nine volunteers? No one died at the Cornucopia? Izaya has a master plan, and he's the only human being who could possibly pull it off. He may be a player in the games, but he's not a pawn. (canon pairings, no yaoi)
1. Chapter 1

Hunger Game Theory

The reaping. Hundreds of children gathered in the town square. Hundreds of children scared out of their minds. They crowded together, hands shaking, watching the lady with the colorful hair on the stage. They winced at the expected words.

"And may the odds be _ever_ in your _favor_."

A girl's name was drawn. A nervous Kamichika Rio stepped up the grey stairs, stumbling over the top one. As she turned around to face the crowd, everyone could see that she was biting her lip. She looked like she was trying not to cry.

A boy's name was drawn, and as he started toward the podium from his spot in the middle of the crowd, a voice called out, "I volunteer!"

"Oh, how _exciting!_ " the lady at the front exclaimed. "Please come up to the front so we can meet you!"

The boy immediately slunk back into the crowd, sighing with relief. The mass of people started to separate, forming a path from the back of the crowd. A solitary boy walked up the ever-expanding row, looking for all the world like he was simply going on a morning walk. Everyone looked at him in awe, wondering what kind of kindness had prompted this action. He pranced up the stairs, skipping the last couple. He spun around the back of the lady, ending up on her right side. He lightly took the microphone and pulled it in front of himself. In a silky voice, he proclaimed, "My name is Orihara Izaya, and I volunteer."

Then he smiled.

The lady became inexplicably nervous.

The crowd began to wonder if the act had any kindness in it at all.

* * *

The parade of the tributes was over, in which Rio had tried her very hardest to stay as far away from Izaya as humanly possible, which was quite the task in such a small chariot cart. Izaya, of course, had been smiling like a maniac almost the whole time, hamming it up for the cameras and giving a delicate wave every now and then.

Today was a training day, and all the tributes were free to use the things supplied by the Capital in order to prepare themselves for the games. Most people were lifting weights, shooting arrows, tying knots, fighting with swords, and other normal activities. Izaya had found a switchblade somewhere along the way, and was holding it as if they were old friends. Not _using_ it, of course- just holding it. He walked around, talking with the other tributes. Rio was disgusted at how happy he seemed, chatting with everyone animatedly. As he glanced around the room, probably looking for his next conversation partner, their eyes made contact.

"Ah, Rio!" He said, gliding over to where she was standing. "I don't believe we've had a good conversation yet!"

"Why would we? What's the point, when we're just going to die in a couple days?"

"It's _because_ we're going to die in a couple days. But that's not important. The real question here," he leaned closer, almost whispering, "is, 'How do you feel about the Capital?'"

"Well, I don't like them, obviously. But there's nothing we can do about it."

"What if there _was?_ Would you do it?"

"It would be too dangerous. And that's ridiculous! Unless you have some master plan that somehow spans the entirety of Panem, there's no way it would be worth it."

Sighing dramatically, he shook his head sadly. "Suit yourself."

She expected him to turn and leave, but he sat himself down on a box filled with rope. "Have you observed the other tributes yet? Have you spotted the winner?"

"You can't tell who the winner is; the games haven't even started yet. If we could, there wouldn't be any betting."

"Oh, but _I_ can. Just take a look around."

Unwillingly, she turned her head to take in the scene.

"See the dark-haired beauty over there who's undoubtedly mixing something poisonous? That's Yagiri Namie. She looks a bit unemotional here, but I hear there's a brother back home that she'll get back to if it's the last thing she does."

"Is she going to win?"

"No, no, no. Be patient, Rio. I'll get there. Now look at the two obsessing over the old books in the corner."

"Ok. What about them?"

"Torture experts."

She paled. "You're _kidding._ "

"Nope. Completely serious right now. Aaaaannnnd how about the straight-faced dark-haired couple? Did you know that the girl's killed at least five people in the past? And _he_ has learned some pretty sweet moves from roles he's acted in."

"At least they're not as scary as the torture experts."

"True, but don't mess with them. I don't really have time to go over all of the tributes with you- I do have more people to talk to, of course- but just be forewarned: there are some assassins, master swordsmen, and monsters in the crowd this year. It should be an exciting game." He smiled again. "Good luck!"

"Wait, you didn't tell me who was going to win!"

"Oh, so you _care_ now? Interesting. I guess it wouldn't hurt to show him to you. It might be quite fun, actually." He gave his terrifying grin. "Just sit back and watch." He leaped up, adjusting his fur-rimmed coat. Rio absently thought that he must have requested it specially.

He sashayed over to a tall blond kid who was sitting with his arms crossed, scowling. "Fancy meeting _you_ here, Shizu-chan. I didn't watch the other reapings; were you chosen, or did you volunteer?"

The kid didn't look at Izaya. "You had better not be who I _think_ you are," he growled. "Because if you _are,_ then you're going to lose a couple of _limbs_."

"Now, now, there's no need to get so angry. As you can see, you and your precious brother are reunited now, so there's really no reason for you to get so worked u-"

"Iiiiiizaaaaaaayaaaaa," Growling, the blond got to his feet, and Rio could almost see smoke pouring out of his ears. Suddenly, the boy grabbed hold of a large table nearby and hefted it in the air. "GET OUT OF MY SIGHT, YOU ROTTEN FLEA!" He tossed the table as easily as if it were a Frisbee.

Smiling, Izaya dodged the giant projectile and spun in a different direction. "You really should be careful where you throw things. It's an enclosed space and someone could get hurt, you know."

"I'LL THROW WHATEVER I _WANT_ TO UNTIL YOU _LEAVE_ , IZAYA!"

By this point, guards were running in from all directions trying to restrain the fuming tribute. He threw several of them to the ground without blinking an eye, but they soon overpowered him with sheer numbers. The blond stopped struggling, realizing that pummeling these men would serve no purpose in the long run.

Stepping around the debris, Izaya made his way back to Rio. "Funny that they make sure to protect us from getting killed right now when we're just going to pick each other off soon. Or maybe they're just trying to preserve their supplies," he mused. "Anyway, what did you think?"

"Was that him?"

"Yes, indeed. Kamichika Rio, meet Heiwajima Shizuo, the boy who's going to win the Hunger Games."

"Are you sure he's under 18?"

"Yep. He's 17 and a half, so he just made the age cutoff."

"I wish he hadn't."

"It's truly a pity, isn't it? To know that you've lost before you've even started?"

Rio said nothing, and he sat down next to her, lounging comfortably.

"Something on your mind?"

"What do you _think?"_ she snapped.

"Well, of course I know the general _category_ of what's on your mind, but I'm sure you've got your own take on things."

She continued staring at her lap. "It's just… I was just wondering if…" she trailed off again.

"If?" he prompted.

"Never mind; it's not like you'd understand."

"To tell you the truth, there's not much I don't understand."

"That's a bit prideful."

"And yet, it's completely true. Let me tell you what you're thinking, if you don't believe me."

"I'm thinking that you're a creep."

"I know, but hear me out. You're scared. You've seen the other tributes, and you know what they can do. You know that, compared to them, you're a weakling, and there's no possible way you're going to win. What's the point of even playing the games if you know you're going to die? Wouldn't it be easier to just," he lowered his voice, "kill _yourself_ before _they_ can? It'd be quicker and less painful. And, of course, there's the added bonus of it being like spitting in the face of the Capital. Am I close?"

She didn't answer.

"I'm just gonna take that as a yes, then. If that's the case, you really shouldn't be worried. After all, you already know when you're going to die and how. There's nothing anyone can do to you."

She still said nothing.

"But you're still worried. It's pretty obvious why, of course."

"If it's all so _obvious_ to you, why don't you go bother someone else? I'm sure I'm _boring_ you with my predictability." Her frown deepened, and she had to fight the urge to slap him across the face.

"You are boring me a little, to be honest."

She stopped fighting the urge. _Smack!_

He put a hand up to his cheek. "You may have slapped me, but I've been completely right so far. Since you can't fight back with words, you have to retaliate using primal measures. It's sad, really. But I'm getting distracted; I was telling you why you were still worried."

"I don't want to hear it."

"You're worried because you're weak. You don't have the courage to kill yourself. Playing the games is suicide, but you can't bring yourself to do the finishing blow. You're too weak to die, and too weak to live. You just can't win. You're doomed to play the games and be one of the first picked off, and who _knows_ how painful it will be?" He got up again, readjusting the coat. Smiling, his voice returned to a normal volume. "Good luck!"

She decided that her first impression of him was right. She hated his guts.

* * *

The time came for the tributes to be ranked, and they were called one by one in front of the judges.

"Orihara Izaya!"

Smiling, he sauntered into the room. "Ah, what a lovely crowd I have this morning."

Several men and women were sitting in the balcony, eating a meal at their leisure. "Begin whenever you're ready."

"I'm afraid there's not much to show, to be honest. My strength lies in strategy, so, unless one of you wants to come down and play a game of chess with me, this won't be very interesting."

"Strategy will only get you so far, Orihara. You must have _some_ practical skills."

"I never said that I didn't _have_ any, only that they weren't my _strength_. If you insist, I suppose I can show you something or other." With that, he slid the switchblade out of his sleeve and snapped it open. He made great show of dramatically pivoting to the side, pointing the knife at a dummy that was set up in the room. "I really hope you have replacements for these. But, then again, Anri Sonohara already went, so she's either hiding her abilities from you, or you already replaced the dummy."

"You've been watching the other tributes."

"Of course! Only a fool wouldn't. Now, on the count of three." He lifted his arm in the air. "One!" He drew it back. "Two!" He let the knife fly. "Three!"

The dummy crumpled into several neat pieces.

"Anything else I can do for you lovely folks this morning?"

"That will be sufficient, Orihara."

* * *

It was the night before the actual games, and Rio, predictably, couldn't sleep. Sitting up in bed and shaking her head, she decided that she would go for a walk. She snuck out of her room and soon found herself walking down the hallway, the silence so thick that you could almost hear a pin drop. Then, as her ears adjusted to the quiet, she heard a murmuring coming from the end of the hall. A slightly higher murmur answered. Someone was holding a conversation. At first, she questioned walking over to them, wondering if they would attack her for listening in. Then again, she really had nothing to lose.

As she crept along the wall, the voices grew slightly more distinct, but still too quiet to make out what they were saying. Hoping with all her heart that the floor wouldn't creak underneath her, she edged all the way to the end of the hall, where it made a corner and turned to the left. When she looked down, she saw a foot jutting out from the corner, and she tried to quiet her breathing.

"Oh, come oooon, Namie." It was Izaya. "Everyone's gotta be on board for this."

"What if it doesn't work?"

"I'm telling you, if everyone holds up their end of the bargain, nothing bad's going to happen."

"Ok, let's say, for some ridiculous reason, that your plan works. Won't the game masters just sabotage us all with, say, a freak storm or something?"

"I told you: I have a _plan_. Would it hurt you to trust me a little?"

"Quite possibly."

"Always such a downer, Namie. If it makes you feel any better, even if the game masters hit us with a storm from hell, your odds of surviving are still better than they would've been."

Rio heard a sigh, and knew that Namie had given in to whatever Izaya's master plan was. "Fine. But if it looks like this is going to fail, I will be the _first_ one at your neck."

"If it fails, I think you'll have bigger things to worry about."

With that, she heard a rustling of clothing, and knew that they were about to head back to their rooms.

She ran.

* * *

 **Aaaaaaand my first DRRR fanfic is under production! I've already got the next few chapters written out, but I'm working out some details before I post them. I'm planning to use a couple characters from the light novels, but if you haven't read them, they shouldn't be too hard to understand, so no worries. Any comments and suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I hope you enjoy this as much as I am!**

 **~JW**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Twenty-four tributes stood on twenty-four pedestals, surrounded by a dense mountain forest, complete with rivers, boulders, and wild animals. In the middle of this clearing was the Cornucopia, filled with food, weapons, and supplies. Forty-eight eyes looked longingly at what could be theirs.

Three.

Namie crossed her arms, reluctant, but determined.

Two.

Masaomi Kida braced himself, remembering what Izaya had said.

One.

Go.

Rio raced into the forest without even an attempt at the Cornucopia.

Izaya sprinted lightly to the center, found what he was looking for, and raced back out, before most people had even started moving. Soon after him, about eighteen of the tributes ran to the large structure. Pushing, struggling, shoving, blood. Tributes grabbing what they could, but not so much as to make others attack them. Suddenly, they all froze at a loud yell.

"Stop fighting and GET OUT OF MY WAY!"

They scattered as Shizuo ran to the center, hefting several logs that he had picked up. "I HATE VIOLENCE!" He tossed the logs at the retreating figures, but they saw them coming and dodged easily. He wasn't trying that hard, of course. No one really bothered him as much as Izaya did.

* * *

The game masters sat back in their chairs as Shizuo followed the rest of the tributes into the woods. Yes, this year was going to be interesting. They grinned at each other.

"Did you _see_ that monster?"

"Yeah. The other tributes better watch out, that's for sure."

After a few minutes of congratulating each other, one of them suddenly frowned. "Something's strange."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know. Something just seems... off."

They stared at the screens for a minute, and another suddenly said, "I've got it."

"What?"

"No one's died yet. That's gotta be a first."

Suddenly, their attention was brought back to the screens as they heard a tapping sound, and the cheerful face of Orihara Izaya filled one of the monitors. "Hello," he drawled. "Ready to see something unexpected?"

They waited for him to expound, wondering absently how he had found a camera so quickly.

"I'm going to go ahead and assume that you're all nodding excitedly. Do you see the girl over there?" he pushed the camera to the left, exposing a shadowed bit of forest. Trees were scattered throughout the scene, and several bushes lined a deep pit. In the middle of the screen, they could see Kamichika Rio attempting to hide in a bush. "She's going to die. I'm not going to draw my knife, and I won't touch her. Are you ready?"

* * *

"Ah, Rio." He walked away from the camera he had found on a tree. "Long time no see. It's been what? Five minutes? Ten?"

"Not long enough."

Strolling over to the bush, he crouched down as if he was talking to a small child. "I can't help but notice that there's a perfectly suitable jumping spot a couple feet behind you, and yet you haven't offed yourself yet."

She didn't reply.

"Of course, I thought as much. You're just not the type. You think your motives are big and deep and dark and important, but they're honestly shallow."

"They're not shallow!"

"Shallow enough for you not to act on them, obviously. You just sit back and wait and worry, and you _let things happen_. Just face it, Rio: you're not a mover. You get moved. You can't even move yourself. But like I said, I'm not surprised. You won't kill yourself because you _can't._ " He stood up again, turning his back. "See you around, if one of the other tributes doesn't see you first."

"You're wrong!"

" _Am_ I now?"

"You strut around, thinking you know everything about everyone, but you don't! You're not a god; you're just a freak in a furry coat!"

"Perhaps I _don't_ know absolutely everything in this world. Perhaps there's quite a lot I don't know. But I _do_ know what kind of person you are. From your perspective, isn't that the only knowledge that truly matters?"

There was no answer.

"See? You can't argue. You know you have no grounds, and no true reason that will change you from a pawn to a player. You're just not capable."

* * *

All eyes in the control room were glued to the conversation that was going on in front of them. The girl's face went from depressed to annoyed to furious, but Izaya's face maintained its disturbing grin. As he finally walked away from the girl, the game masters saw her get to her feet, determination and anger written in her clenched hands and shaking legs.

"What is she-"

She stepped toward the edge of the pit.

"She's trying to prove him wrong!"

"She's going to do it!"

And she was. Toes over the rocks at the top of the precipice, she gazed down at the sharp boulders at the bottom of her fall. A gentle breeze teased her hair into going in every direction, giving the whole scene an otherworldly feel.

"He hasn't turned around."

"He's not even going to _look?"_

She leaned forward and spread out her arms. Her feet left the rocks.

A cannon went off.

Izaya's smile only grew wider.

* * *

Shadows of twisting branches moved across darkened ground, the trees casting them swaying back and forth. Twigs snapped underfoot as a panting Ryuugamine Mikado trotted onto the scene. He frantically turned his head back and forth, scanning the forest for other tributes. At last, he stopped and leaned back on a tree trunk, clutching a bag of provisions to his chest.

"Ryuugamine-kun?"

His head snapped up. "Anri?"

A pretty girl with short black hair and glasses stepped out from behind a tree trunk, arms behind her back.

"You were so quiet, I didn't know you were there." He smiled. "I'm glad you're okay, though. I mean," a faint blush rushed across his cheeks, "I, uh, would be really sad if you got hurt."

"I know how you feel about me, Mikado-kun," she said quietly, "which is what makes this even harder than it would have been."

"W-what do you mean?" His smile faded slightly.

As she pulled her right arm in front of her, the faint light streaming through the tree branches glinted off something long, sharp, and metal.

Mikado swallowed. "Did you take that sword from the Cornucopia?"

"Yes, they knew I would want it." She took a step toward him.

"Hey! Hey, Anri," his eyes widened in fear. "There's no need to take me out; I would never hurt you! And besides, I thought we were going to n-"

"You may love _me_ ," she interrupted, getting closer, taking step after step, "but I cannot love. I cannot love you; I cannot love _anyone_." She raised her sword, bringing the flat of it against his right cheek. "This is about survival."

"But I'm your friend!" He whimpered, inching to his left. "And what about-"

Anri simply took the sword and brought it to the other side of his face. "There are no friends in the games. I'm doing this as a warning: stay out of my way, Mikado."

"What are you doing?"

Leaning in close to him, she whispered, "Being a friend. Trust me." In a second, she brought the sword down, missing his face, but slicing a line of skin off the inside of his arm.

"Gah!" he yelled, clapping a hand to his forearm to try and stop the bleeding.

Taking several steps backward, Anri sheathed her sword. "Remember what I said, Mikado." She stepped back into the twisting shadows, and seemed to disappear.

Mikado panted and tried his best to hide the smile that was fighting to escape. It would all be okay, just like Izaya said it would.

* * *

A camera panned over the mountain forest landscape, overlooking rocks and moss and scattered tree trunks until it focused on a pair of kids walking down a path. They seemed to be laughing and talking with each other, not respecting the fact that they were supposed to be fighting to the death. The boy even had a book out. It must have been left in the Cornucopia for him, but it was certainly an odd thing to find in a game of survival.

"Yeah, Edward and Winry make a good couple; I'm not arguing that point," the girl bubbled, "but I still stand by the fact that Roy and Riza are simultaneously the most beautiful and the most tragic couple in the series. After all, they're clearly madly in love with each other, but can't take it to the next level because of the military's fraternization laws!"

The boy turned a page in his book, shaking his head slightly, eyes seeming to be stuck in a permanent squint. "She _could_ always quit the military."

"Of _course_ she can't quit the military! The reason she joined was to protect him, and if she quit, it would be like she loved him _less_ , and that would be completely out of character!"

"I guess they're destined for an eternity of kissing behind closed doors. It could be worse." He lifted his head. "Hey, what do you think of this spot?"

"Hmm," she rubbed her chin, then smiled. "I think it's wonderful! I'll man this side if you'll take the other one." With that, she hid herself behind a large and mossy boulder.

"Got it. Mission 'Ambush Anyone Who Walks By' has officially commenced. Prepare to be impressed, Erika."

Erika giggled, still out of sight. "This is so exciting! It's like we're inside the plot of a super exciting book! Of course, we wouldn't be the main characters. Yumacci, you and I would be the side characters that people are always underestimating, kind of like Black Star and Tsubaki in Soul Eater. Dotachin would be… hmmm… probably Mifune. I guess that would mean Izaya would have to be Lord Death. He's definitely creepy enough, and he acts happy-go-lucky all the time."

"And he has his underlings, too. But the only one who questions Lord Death's motives is Death the Kid, while all of us question Izaya's motives."

"He reminds me of the witches in Macbeth. He'll say something completely innocent, like how you should eat potatoes instead of broccoli for dinner, and you'll think that he's not such a bad guy, and then it'll turn out that he somehow just started a war over broccoli and potatoes."

"Nothing's cut and dried with him. Even his facades have facades."

"Hey, Walker, did I tell you about that one time-"

"Shh! Someone's coming!"

They fell silent, and nothing could be heard but the faint trilling of genetically modified birds. Crunching footsteps eventually faded into existence, and Niekawa Haruna strode down the path toward the boulders, swinging her long dark hair over her shoulder as she glanced around. She gripped a short sword tightly with both hands.

As she walked between the two boulders on either side of the path, she suddenly swung her sword around, pointing it in the face of a smiling Erika, who had appeared out of nowhere. "Don't move," she growled, "or you'll lose your face."

Erika just smiled.

"It's not very heroic to threaten a girl who is clearly unarmed," a voice said.

Haruna whipped around to face a smiling Walker, his eyes still squinted closed. "This isn't about heroism," she replied. "It's about living."

"But if you don't live the right way," Erika was talking again, and Haruna turned back to her, "what's the point?"

Haruna suddenly realized that she wasn't holding her sword anymore. Her heart dropped, and she slowly turned around to look at Walker. He was still smiling, twirling the sword around playfully.

"You're Haruna-san, right?" asked Erika. "We've heard that you're pretty smart and skilled with a sword, so we're gonna be nice to you."

"We're going to _hurt_ you, of course-"

"But you get to choose how we do it!"

"Now," Walker contemplated the sword he was holding, "I picked up some supplies at the Cornucopia, so you've got your pick of the lot. Tacks, fire, stuff I found along the way. _Or_ I can use this beauty right here."

"Ooh, I didn't think of the sword! Good idea!"

Haruna had been trying to inch her way out from between the two kids, but they mirrored her every movement. "I thought you two were all about being heroic. That doesn't exactly reconcile with torturing someone, does it?"

"But we _are_ being heroes," said Walker. "We're doing the right thing, honestly, but there's no rule about not having fun while we're doing it."

In a last ditch effort to save herself, Haruna lunged at one of the boulders, right between the two kids, and attempted to climb out of danger. She suddenly felt a tug on her legs, and she scraped back down the rock, landing on her back on the gravel path. Two smiling faces looked down at her.

"That was brave of you, but you just forfeited your choice of weapon," said Walker.

As Haruna panted nervously, Erika leaned down to her and whispered in her ear, "Don't worry. It's all part of the plan. It'll only hurt a little, but you've got to scream like it hurts a _lot_."

* * *

The game masters observed as Erika and Walker crouched over the prone figure of Niekawa Haruna. They couldn't see her face anymore, but, judging by the skill with which Walker wielded the sword and the screams that were reaching their ears from the microphones, they really wouldn't have wanted to see the act anyway.

"Check her vital signs; we want to be watching if they kill her."

One of the men clicked through several screens. "I'm bringing up the tracker right now."

"What do you see?"

"I've got- no, wait, it just went out. We've got nothing. She's dead."

* * *

A cannon went off, and Walker and Erika grinned. "Perfect. It's all going without a hitch so far."

"When do things _not_ go according to plan with him?"

A gust of wind hit them from above, and they stepped back from the body, leaves and twigs swirling around them. Erika put a hand up to stop her bangs from getting in her eyes, and Walker shoved both hands into his pockets. He was no longer holding the sword.

Descending from the sky, a large metal claw slowly grabbed Haruna's limp body and brought it up to the waiting hovercraft. The craft swallowed up both claw and girl, and began to ascend and turn away from them.

Walker crossed his arms, staring up at the ship with his eyes still closed. "And then there were twenty-two."

* * *

 **I may or may not have forgotten to tell you which districts everybody was from. Thank you, Mel2140, for reminding me. I haven't been focusing on that, since the districts everyone comes from don't necessarily have that big of an effect, for reasons I'll talk about later. For those who are curious, though, here's the breakdown:**

 **District 1 Izumi, Varona**

 **District 2 Chikage, Non**

 **District 3 Yumasaki Walker, Karisawa Erika**

 **District 4 Ryuugamine Mikado, Sonohara Anri**

 **District 5 Kyohei Kadota, Orihara Mairu**

 **District 6 Heiwajima Kasuka, Hijiribe Ruri**

 **District 7 Kida Masaomi, Saki**

 **District 8 Heiwajima Shizuo, Niekawa Haruna**

 **District 9 Kishitani Shinra, Harima Mika**

 **District 10 Kuronuma Aoba, Yagiri Namie**

 **District 11 Egor,** **Orihara Kururi**

 **District 12 Orihara Izaya, Kamichika Rio**

 **Please let me know what you think so far. Thank you to those who already have! Also, anybody know what Izaya's plan is?**

 **Random question for all of you: I'm trying to finish reading the light novels right now, but I can't find a full translation of volume 11 anywhere. If someone sends me a link, I'll love them forever. Seriously.**

 **~JW**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

A myriad of screens lit up the control room, game masters watching as the twenty-two remaining tributes spread out far and wide. Most of them stayed in small groups, not wanting to face the dangers of the course alone. Searching through bushes, wading in streams, or picking berries, all of them were gathering food while the fighting slowed down. The blond boy, Kida Masaomi, was unwittingly getting closer to another tribute while looking for something to hunt.

"These stupid berries aren't going to be good enough," he grumbled. "Give me meat, any day. I wouldn't say no to meeting a hot chick, either, now that I'm thinking about things I want." Leaves rustled above him, and he looked up momentarily. "Well, at least I know we've got some squirrels. Knowing the Capital, they're probably poisonous freaks of nature, though." Reaching into his back pocket, he pulled out a slingshot. "Poisonous or not, it's worth a try!" He bent down and grabbed a rock, then pulled back the rubber, aiming towards the squirrel and closed an eye in concentration. He let go.

 _Thwack._ The stone bounced off a branch, and he ducked as it narrowly missed his head on the way down. The squirrel scampered higher in the tree. "Yeah, you go ahead and run, little guy. Next time, I'm gonna get your head!"

"Masaomi?"

Masaomi jumped at the voice, and turned to see Ryuugamine Mikado walking toward him, hands in pockets.

"Is that really you?"

He grinned, holding up three fingers. "I'll give you three options. One: Kida Masaomi." He put down a finger. "Two: Kida Masaomi." He put down another. "And three: Kida Masaomi." He put down the last finger.

A huge smile broke across Mikado's face. "It really _is_ you! And your jokes are just as awful as ever!"

"Hey, that's cruel!" He crossed his arms. "I'm a perfectly amusing person, and I'll have you know that the ladies _love_ my jokes."

"Sure they do." He rolled his eyes. "How long has it been since I last saw you, anyway?"

"Let's see, I got transferred to District 6 when we were eight…"

"And we're fifteen now, so that would be… seven years? Wow, it's been quite a while! I'm glad we got to meet up again. I mean, it would have been better under different circumstances, obviously…"

"Hey, like I always say, you shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth."

"Do you really say that that often?"

"Well, I've said it at least once, now. That's gotta count for something. Hey, you don't happen to have any food, do you?"

"Actually, I do. You can have some, if you want." He began rummaging around in his small bag.

Slapping his friend on the back, Masaomi smiled, "You're the best, Mikado!"

* * *

"Dotachin!" Erika jumped out from behind her boulder to throw her arms around a muscular-looking boy who was wearing a cloth hat.

"I told you not to _call_ me that!" He frowned.

"I can't help it, Dotachin," she continued hugging him, "I'm just so excited that we all ended up in the games together!"

"Besides," Walker emerged from his hiding place, "if we've been calling you Dotachin for ten years, there's no way we're going to change now. We've set a historical precedent that can only be broken if one of us suddenly acts completely out of character."

"And if there's one thing we'll _never_ be, it's out of character."

"I get that," he rolled his eyes, "but how hard is it to say 'Kadota,' or even 'Kyohei'? My actual name isn't that bad!"

"Sorry, but Dotachin just fits you better," replied Walker.

"Do you guys want to find a camping spot or something?" Erika suggested. "It's going to be nightfall in a couple of hours, so we'll want somewhere protected from the elements."

"I saw a cave on the path here," said Kadota. "Do you guys want to try it?"

"Sure!"

They began walking down the path, and Walker asked, "Since there are still twenty-two tributes alive, do you think it's time to break out the pyrotechnics?"

* * *

Kasuka, a stoic brunet boy, walked quietly beside a girl with shoulder-length brown hair. "Do you think we'll win the games?" he asked, expressionless.

"Why wouldn't we?" replied Ruri.

"I know that you could kill most of the tributes without breaking a sweat, but I know you can't kill my brother."

She thought about a minute. "That's true."

"If it comes down to a fight between you and my brother, I would be very sad." His facial expression still didn't change, but he leaned closer to her. "I love my brother, of course, but I don't want to lose you."

"I don't want to lose you, either, Kasuka." She shook her head and leaned closer to him in return. "Why do you care about me, anyway? Do you remember the first time we met?"

"It's difficult to forget someone who tries to murder me the minute they wake up in my house. It's only happened on a handful of occasions."

"But you didn't tell me why you care about me."

"People who know me don't usually associate me with caring, or any emotions at all. I don't feel strongly about most things, and I almost never show the few feelings I have. Aside from my roles, caring and love are foreign to me, besides the love I have for my brother. I'm sure you already know all that. The day you tried to kill me," he closed his eyes, "it made me… feel something. You still make me feel something."

"Is it a… good something?"

"I think so. I may have to think on it more, but I know I would be devastated if I lost you."

"You think too much."

"Would you like me to stop?" He suddenly tilted his head and kissed her.

A twig snapped.

Kasuka and Ruri separated and whipped around (Ruri looked quite annoyed at this turn of events, but Kasuka looked unfazed, as usual), facing the tall boy who had crept up behind them. "I'm sorry, but you need to die," Kasuka stated.

Ruri grabbed the kid's forearms, and he shrieked, staring at the blood now dripping down his skin. Kasuka grabbed him from behind, and Ruri went for his neck. Suddenly, they dropped him, limp, to the ground.

A cannon went off.

The body of a kid known as Egor was taken up into a hovercraft.

* * *

The game masters sat back in their chairs.

"Well, that was unexpected."

"I like the whole 'killer lovebirds' vibe they have going for them."

"Still, there've only been three deaths so far. That's pretty unusual. Something still feels off."

"Yeah, but it's been getting better."

"Not right now. It seems like it's slowing down," one of them said.

"Yeah, besides those two going haywire on Egor, there isn't any fighting going on."

"It must be time for us to get involved, then. What are you thinking, maybe an avalanche of rocks?"

"I'm always a fan of the forest fire, myself."

"Wait!" another man said, holding up a hand. "Orihara's on the move. Something's definitely going to happen."

"Shizuo's moving, too."

"Alright, let's see where this ends up before we start anything. We wouldn't want to interrupt something interesting."

* * *

Shizuo tore through branches and brambles, sprinting over boulders and up and down steep inclines. "Kasuka!" he shouted. "Kasuka! Can you hear me? KASUKA!" He stopped, panting slightly, and looked around himself. "Where are you, Kasuka? I'm on your side, I promise! KASUKA!" The sun was beginning to set, and the shadows were long and dark underneath the tree branches. Squinting into the growing dimness, Shizuo tried again. "KASUKA!"

"Aw, now would you look at that?" Izaya stepped out from behind a tree, twirling once. "The scary monster's trying to look out for his little brother. How sweet." He spun to the side as a tree trunk was tossed at his face. "Looks like someone's a little _angry_ today. How unusual!"

"WHY ARE YOU IN MY LINE OF SIGHT, FLEA?"

"Statistically, speaking, since we're both in the Hunger Games, and this arena is only so big, we were bound to come across one another eventually. Maybe not this _soon_ , but it would have happened sometime, I'm sure."

"DON'T GIVE ME THAT CRAP; YOU'RE _TRYING_ TO GET IN MY WAY!" He hefted a boulder in the air, dirt and moss crumbling to the ground around him. "DIE!"

As the boulder came hurtling in his direction, Izaya simply jumped into the air, pushing off the boulder as it flew by. "I think we need to work on your aim, Shizu-chan."

"You need to work on DYING FASTER!"

Izaya skipped closer to him, zigzagging around the assorted projectiles that were meant for his head. "In all honesty, I'm not trying to hurt you, Shizu-chan."

"LIKE I'D BELIEVE YOU! You separated me and my brother. There's NO WAY I'm going to trust _you_ , IZAYA!"

"Oh, don't say _that;_ I'm sure we can find _some_ way…" He started walking in a circle around the blond, and the taller boy turned around to keep him within his line of sight.

* * *

The game masters watched as Izaya's back moved directly in front of the camera that was watching them from above.

Shizuo's booming voice crackled over the speakers. "NOT IN A MILLION YEARS, FLEA!" They watched as he grabbed a large log and lobbed it in Izaya's direction. Izaya sprinted out of the way, but the log crashed directly into the camera. The picture fizzled, flashed once, then went black.

"Do we have any other cameras in the area?" The man stood up, frantically searching the screens for a view of the two boys.

"Here's one!" An intern brought up a long-distance view of the fight. A small Izaya could still be seen skipping around in circles, and Shizuo was still throwing impossibly heavy objects at random. "I've got a visual, at least. It looks like we're too far away for sound, though."

"We can't hear them." The man narrowed his eyes. "This doesn't feel right."

"If I may say so," said another man, "nothing about these games has felt right."

* * *

"Come ooon, Shizu-chan." Another large branch grazed Izaya's ear. "I have a plan, but you need to _listen_ to me."

"Give me ONE GOOD REASON why I should listen to you!"

"Alright, then." He skipped around until he was standing directly behind Shizuo and leaned forward. "Because you're the only one who can win the games, Shizu-chan, and because I know you're the only one who doesn't want to."

With a log suspended in the air, Shizuo paused.

"Sure, you're a tough guy, and a scary guy, and a _monster_ ," he ignored the growling and continued, "but I know you don't really like death. If you could get over your freakish temper and insane strength, you wouldn't hurt anyone. Above all, you would never want your baby _brother_ to die. Am I right so far?"

"So WHAT if you're right? There's nothing we can do about it; it's the Hunger Games, after all."

"What if there _was?_ That's a rhetorical question, by the way, in case you didn't catch it."

"And let me guess: YOU have a master plan."

Smiling innocently, Izaya replied, "But of _course!_ Are you ready to hear it?"

The blond continued growling.

"It doesn't just save you and your brother, either. It saves _everyone._ " Izaya waited for his words to sink in, hoping that the boy would see reason.

After what look like a raging internal battle, Shizuo finally sighed and dropped the log he was holding in defeat. "Oh, why not, fl-"

"No, no, no! Pick that up again!" A look of fear flashed across Izaya's face, a look that was supremely out of place.

"Why?"

"Just do it!"

With a look of confusion, Shizuo hefted the log onto his shoulder again. "Everything okay, flea?"

"Right now, the game masters can see us, but not hear us."

"How?"

"I had you knock out a camera for me earlier, so the best they've got is a long distance shot."

"Should've known, I guess."

"If they see you stop trying to kill me, they'll know something's definitely up, and they'll try to kill us both. In other words, I've got limited time, so questions are _not_ encouraged at this moment. Here's the point: this year, if you don't kill anyone, no one will kill you. But, since no one dying would alert the game masters to my plan and make them take us all out with a natural disaster, we're faking it. I talked to all the tributes before the games started, and they're all in on it."

"So the cannons….?"

"Three cannons, only one death. And _don't_ look at me like that; it was her own fault. There's no way I can force a girl to commit suicide."

Shizuo just glared at him.

"Okay, so maybe I _can_ , but the fact of the matter is, she died because she was too much of a wimp to go along with the plan. She's the only one who's actually going to die. Now, throw that log at me; I know you're dying to."

The blond whipped the log in the Izaya's general direction, and the other boy easily dodged.

"Thanks for that. Gotta keep it interesting for our audience."

"I just see one problem with your brilliant plan, Izaya. If everyone's pretending to kill everyone else, how do you know someone's not killing people for real?"

"First of all, I thought we agreed on no questions, Shizu-chan."

"I never agreed to ANYTHING!"

"Fine, fine, have it your way. The answer is the numbers. I cut a number into the inner forearm of every one of the tributes with my flick blade the night before the games. You've just got to keep track of how many tributes have died. If, say, five tributes are 'dead,' and you see someone who's number six, then you have full liberties to fake their murder and remove their tracker right before you do it. I went over the order with most of the tributes before the games started, so the numbers are just a backup. If someone dies out of order, then everyone will know the deal's off, and chaos will break out. Of course, no one's going to want to break the deal, since you've got a 100% chance of living my way, and only about a 4% chance of living through the actual Hunger Games."

"What number am I?"

"Twenty-three. And I'm twenty-four. Are you in?"

"And you're guaranteeing my brother's survival?"

"Absolutely. No one dies if no one kills."

* * *

"That's the longest I've ever seen Shizuo go without throwing something."

"That Orihara kid seems to be talking to him."

"I don't like it." The leader, Shiki, stood up. "I don't like it at all." He watched Izaya continue to flit around the screen. "That's it; I want them out of there. Aozaki, it's time for a disaster."

"Avalanche, sir?"

He bit his lip in thought. "No. We'll wait on that one for a bit. How about a small scale forest fire?"

"Yes, sir!"

* * *

 **I never ever ever ever write romance, so apologies for the whole Kasuka/Ruri mess I attempted. Other than that (or you can rag on me for that if you really want to; bring it on), any thoughts/comments? Enjoying yourself so far? I'm having a riot, and we're nowhere close to being finished. *evil grin***

 **~JW**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

" _Avalanche, sir?"_

 _He bit his lip in thought. "No. We'll wait on that one for a bit. How about a small scale forest fire?"_

" _Yes, sir!"_

* * *

Izaya suddenly stopped flitting about. He sniffed. "Do you smell that?"

Shizuo copied him, then his eyes widened. "Smoke!"

"I've talked for too long. We need to get out of here- now!" Grabbing Shizuo's arm, the brunet pulled the taller boy after him, running as fast as he could.

Flames erupted from the ground where they had just been standing. Their feet pounded down the gravel path, jumping over logs and boulders that Shizuo had tossed minutes earlier. Smoke began to crowd their vision, and sparks licked at their heels, adding the smell of singed fabric to the scene. As they circled around a rocky drop off, Shizuo saw a line of greyish blue and felt his heart soar. "Water!" he yelled.

Putting on a final burst of speed, he launched himself into the rushing river. With a splash, he was submerged. It flowed over him, and he felt his body become instantly and gloriously cooled. When his head resurfaced, he glanced around. "Izaya?"

The boy was still running along the side of the river.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING? GET IN THE WATER!"

"I can't!" he yelled back, stumbling over a rock in his path. He refused to move the two feet to the right that would ensure his survival.

"CAN'T _WHAT?_ "

There was a pause, then he choked out, clearly unwilling to admit it, "S-swim!"

"WHO CARES?"

The boy kept running, but his progress was slower. The fire was almost caught up with him, and Shizuo could see Izaya coughing from the smoke.

"YOU'RE AN IDIOT!" he bellowed, standing up at the bank of the river, water cascading off his hair and clothes. He stepped out of the water, not heeding the flames that were covering the ground. He sprinted through burning embers, quickly gaining ground on Izaya. When the smell of burning hair hit him, the smell of _his_ hair burning, he knew that this was by far the worst idea he'd ever had. This was saying something, since he'd had some _bad_ ideas over the years. "STOP RUNNING!" he yelled, leaping over several ashy logs and brushing a burning branch out of his face.

When Shizuo caught up with the boy (did it take seconds? Minutes? Hours?), Izaya was bent over, still coughing. "HOLD YOUR BREATH, FLEA!" With that, he wrapped an arm around the thin waist and dragged him to the side, sprinting toward the water. He jumped, and the two of them fell into the gurgling river with a long _hsssss_.

They were submerged for a few seconds, and then Izaya came back to the surface, flailing wildly.

"Just hold still, would you?" Shizuo tried to hold him, but he continued thrashing. "For goodness' sake, it's okay!"

"Get me out!" he panted, still sloshing water all over the place. "Get me out right now!"

Obediently, and somewhat amused, the blond swam them over to the opposite bank, which was mercifully free of fire. Dragging himself out of the water, Izaya flopped onto the ground and began coughing violently, expelling both water and smoke from his respiratory system. After about half a minute of this, he lay still, panting.

"So you're _that_ afraid of water, huh, flea?" Shizuo, too, was panting, but he had a huge smile stretched across his face.

"Don't mention this to anyone, or you're _dead_ , protozoan." He turned his head to face the other boy, still catching his breath. Slowly, a grin to match Shizuo's made itself known. "Well, I guess this means you're with me on this?"

"Despite my better judgment, I-"

"You _have_ no better judgment. You just ran into a fire to save your worst enemy."

" _Look_ , I'm doing not doing this for you. I'm doing it for _Kasuka._ And you'd better watch your back, or you could find yourself thrown in a river."

"Please tone it down, Shizu-chan; I'm shaking in my boots here."

"WOULD YOU JUST SHUT UP ALREADY?"

* * *

Mikado and Masaomi stopped to watch the smoke billowing above the trees somewhere off to their left. As they heard shouts echoing in their direction, Mikado turned to his friend nervously. "Should we run? The fire seems to be coming this way."

"Nah," Masaomi shrugged. "It's not like a real fire. This whole arena is divided up into separate areas, and the natural disasters that happen in one place won't go farther than their specified bounds. That fire's probably going to stop before it reaches us."

"If you say so." He still sounded unsure.

"Why are you so nervous? I mean, yeah, we're stuck in this life or death game, but you're with me, Mikado! I'm not gonna let anything happen to you."

He didn't say anything, but frowned at the ground with his hands shoved into his pockets.

Rocks crunched underfoot as someone ran towards them. The sound of panting met their ears, and Orihara Izaya sprinted into their field of vision, dodging around tree after tree. He was grinning. "Ah, it's Masaomi-kun and air conditioner boy!" Slowing down, he stopped in front of them.

"Air conditioner boy?"

"Didn't I tell you? Your name reminds me of an air conditioner. It's not that it's a bad thing; it just does."

Masaomi crossed his arms, narrowing his eyes at Izaya. "Why are you wet?"

"Isn't it obvious? I was getting away from a fire. What you _should_ be asking is why I'm running, when we all know that that fire isn't going to catch up to us."

"Oh, please don't tell me that Shiz-"

"IIIIIZAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAA!"

Izaya's grin grew exponentially. "Well, it was nice catching up with you two, but we'll have to meet up some other time." He sprinted past them as a large tree fell to the ground.

Shizuo stood there fuming, one leg on top of the downed tree. "GET BACK HERE, YOU UNGRATEFUL LITTLE LOUSE!" Mikado and Masaomi ran to the side as Shizuo launched himself off the tree trunk and barreled towards Izaya's retreating form. "I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU, AND THEN I'LL DIG YOU UP AND KILL YOU AGAIN!"

"Logic's never really been his strong suit."

"KILL KILL KILL KILL…."

Shizuo's less than melodious voice faded into the distance.

* * *

As the sun dipped below the trees and rocky outcroppings, Mikado and Masaomi continued walking through the woods. "Where do you think we should stay for the night?" asked Mikado, folding his arms across his chest and shivering slightly. "It's getting pretty cold out here."

"There's probably a good cave around here, or at least a couple boulders that can give us shelter." Masaomi clapped a hand onto his friend's back. "Keep your eyes out for one, and we'll take the first one we find."

"Ok."

In the fading light, they could see a large stack of boulders ahead and to their right. "How about that one? We can set up camp and protect any poor and attractive damsels in distress that come along. They'll appreciate our manliness and chivalry and will fall for us head over heels. I can imagine it now, Kida Masaomi and his beautiful girl as star-crossed lovers in the teen tragedy of the Hunger Games. The Capital will have to call it off because too many viewers will ball their eyes out at- Hey, are you even listening to me, Mikado?"

Mikado had walked into the middle of the circle of boulders, setting his bag on the ground and sitting cross-legged next to it. "Do you think we can start a fire?"

"Nah, we don't want to attract too many tributes. If you're cold, just snuggle with me. What are best friends for, anyway?"

"That's just weird, Masaomi."

"Aw, c'mon; I _know_ you'd want to snuggle up next to _Anri_ , you flirt."

"Stop it! We're not… it's not like that!" But the shadowed face of Mikado looked guilty enough that Masaomi knew exactly what mental picture had just crossed his friend's mind.

Masaomi leaned against the rock wall, then slid down it until he was seated right next to his friend. "Hey, it could be worse."

The boy sighed. "I know."

* * *

In the surveillance room, the leader was sitting back in his chair, feet up on a desk. "What's the death count for today?"

"Three, sir."

"Only _three?_ "

"To be fair, we only gave them a few hours before dark this year."

"True. All I'm saying is that if there isn't a bloodbath tomorrow, we're _making_ one. Get ready to play the slideshow in a couple minutes."

"Yes, sir."

* * *

Masaomi had finally stopped talking, so the two friends were huddled together in silence, backs against the hard boulder. Suddenly, they heard the rustling of foliage and the quiet snapping of twigs. Masaomi felt Mikado tense up beside him, so he whispered, "Well, if they're this quiet, we know it's not Shizuo, at least, so we're probably fine."

"Shizuo's not the only one I'm scared of." Mikado whispered back.

"Masaomi?" A soft voice said, close to the opening of the circle of boulders. "I heard you talking earlier, so I know you're in there. Can I join you?"

Masaomi's face lit up. "Saki!" he called. "Yeah, you can join us!"

"Us?" A delicate face peaked around the edge of the rocks. Although the sun was completely gone by this point, Mikado could make out narrow eyes, short brown hair, and a mouth that smiled as she caught sight of them. "Who's your friend?"

"Saki, this is my friend, Mikado." He stood up, motioning towards the girl. "Mikado, this is Saki, my…"

"Girlfriend," she supplied, the smile still evident on her pretty face.

Mikado's jaw dropped open. "You actually have a… she's…"

"Aw, don't act so surprised." Throwing a possessive arm around her shoulder, he grinned. "How could a handsome specimen such as myself _not_ have a girl as beautiful as Saki?"

"But you're always talking about flirting and picking up chicks! I mean, sorry, maybe I shouldn't have said that. I didn't mean any offense, Saki."

"That's ok," she nodded at him. "I know he's always flirting with other girls, but it's alright. We're destined to be together, so I know he'll always come back to me."

A bit weird, but ok. As long as their system worked for them, he wasn't about to throw stones. "If you don't mind my asking, how do you know you're destined for each other?"

"Oh, that's easy," replied Saki as Masaomi grimaced. "Izaya said so."

"You know Izaya?"

"Of course! Masaomi and I used to go to school with him before he got kicked out and transferred to District 12. We were friends."

"I wouldn't go so far as saying that we were _friends_."

"Izaya got kicked out of a district? Why?"

"Well, there are plenty of stories, of course," Masaomi explained, "but the rumor is that he stabbed someone. And not just anyone, either. It just so happened that it was Kishitani Shinra, who happens to be a tribute from District 9 in the Hunger Games this year. Of course, that's all just a rumor."

"Wow, talk about a coincidence!"

Saki just smiled, a slightly disconcerting smile that Mikado couldn't help but find eerily familiar.

Behind the two lovebirds, the Capital Seal lit up the night sky, and music started playing. They all sat down to watch as the faces flashed on the projection, showcasing the three tributes that had died today.

"Only three, huh?" Masaomi shook his head. "Disappointing, right?"

"Well, they're only getting started." Saki leaned her head into his chest, then turned her head to look up at him. "I'm sure there will be plenty more tomorrow." She lifted her head up, looking Masaomi in the eyes, then leaned in and kissed him. He closed his eyes, and she broke away after a second, whispering something in his ear. His eyes snapped open, widening. "Really? I must've forgotten."

She nodded.

"Well, in _that_ case," he leaned toward her and kissed her again.

Mikado shuffled away from them, holding his knees with his arms. He had a feeling this was going to be a long night.

* * *

 **Thanks for all the feedback so far! It's getting close to the school year, and I've got to get all my stuff ready for my first year at college, so I'm probably going to have less time to write. Updates may be more spread out. (But since when have I actually updated on a schedule?) We'll see. Anyway, just because y'all know Izaya's plan now doesn't mean there aren't more plot twists to come, so stay with me. :) Let me know what you think; I love to hear from you!**

 **~JW**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Mikado shifted, turning onto his side. At some point that night, he had fallen asleep, thankfully saving himself from witnessing more public displays of affection from his friends. He blinked, wondering why he had woken up. It was still dark, although, as he looked up at the circle of sky revealed by the boulders, he could see the edges of the blackness beginning to lighten.

 _Snap._

Someone was moving around. Masaomi? He turned his head to the side. Nope, still sound asleep and snuggled up to Saki.

Weird.

* * *

"Wake up, sleepyhead! It's another beautiful day in the mountain forest. What better way to spend a day than with Kida Masaomi as your resident wilderness guide?"

"Nngh."

"Up and at 'em, Mikado-kun!"

Mikado felt someone's foot lodge in his side, and he reluctantly opened his eyes to see Masaomi leaning over his face, grinning. "Why are you so…" his sluggish brain searched for the word, "energetic?"

"Why not be energetic?" He straightened up again, spreading his arms out wide. "The sun's up, and we're not dead yet!"

Slowly, Mikado sat up, absentmindedly rubbing his arm. "I guess that's one way to look at it."

"It's the _only_ way to look at it! Come on, let's go look around."

Mikado grabbed his backpack and slung it over his shoulder, following his friend out of the circle of boulders. Ahead of them was the same path they had walked down the previous night. Trees reached up to the clear sky, and the whole place smelled like leaves and fresh dirt. Maybe Masaomi had a point about it being a good day, after all. "Hey, where's Saki? Is she going off on her own?"

"Nah, Saki wouldn't ditch us. She was just going to-"

But Mikado never found out was Saki was going to do. A shriek pierced the air in front of them and echoed around them.

"Saki!" Eyes widening, Masaomi's whole body tensed. Then he took off, sprinting toward the cry. " _Saki!"_ Over gravel, rocks, and scattered branches he ran. There was another shriek, and Mikado started after his friend. After a breathless sprint, the two could see what had happened to Saki.

She was crying, clawing frantically at the arm that was wrapped around her neck. The arm was connected to the body of a tall boy with black hair, a large burn scar, and a manic grin on his face. "What's wrong?" he asked. "Isn't this comfortable?"

Masaomi suddenly stopped running, and Mikado whacked into his back. "What are-" Mikado started to ask, then hesitated at the look of terror on his friend's face. Masaomi was completely frozen, arms stuck out at his sides in a half-hearted attempt to keep Mikado from interfering.

As they watched, the kid sharply jerked his arm upward, and Saki gasped, eyes closed. "I guess we'll have to change something, then." Suddenly, he dropped his arm, Saki staggering forward, then he grabbed her shoulders and shoved her roughly into the side of a tree trunk. "Better?" he growled.

"P-please!" she whispered, arms folded across her front.

"Masaomi!" Mikado nudged his friend. "We need to _do_ something!"

Masaomi didn't respond.

"That's not a very good 'thank you,' I'm afraid." With that, he lashed out with a slap to her face, then followed by kicking her legs out from under her. She crashed to the ground, whimpering softly as she tried to prop herself up again.

"Hey!" All eyes were immediately on Mikado, who looked as surprised as all of them at the fact that something had come out of his mouth.

The boy had looked up from where he was preparing to kick Saki again. "Excuse me?"

"Wh-who do you think you are, beating up Saki like that?"

His eyebrows raised. "Izumii Ran, and who do you think _you_ are, punk? In case you hadn't noticed, we're in the Hunger Games. It's not about keeping everyone alive. It's about making sure _you_ get out alive."

"B-but-"

"I'm not breaking any rules, kid. Now, _back off_ unless you want to be next," he growled, kicking Saki in the side again. Reaching into his back pocket, he drew out a short knife. With a wicked smile, he raised it in the air, then brought it down towards Saki's chest. Suddenly, his arm jerked to a stop. He blinked once, then turned to see a terrified Mikado holding onto his wrist with both hands. "I thought I _told_ you," he shoved Mikado off, "to stay _out_ of it." He swung his dagger at Mikado instead this time, and the small brunet boy had to jump backwards to avoid it, ending up sprawled on his back in the process. He frantically started backing away, but Izumii strode up to him, stepping on his left leg to stop him from moving. "When I said to back off, I meant it. You're just gonna have to pay the price for not listening." Leaning over Mikado, he sneered. Then, something rammed into his right side and he collided roughly with the ground.

"Masaomi!"

"Didn't think I'd abandon you, did ya?" The blond grinned from where he was sitting on top of Izumii.

"Of course not! Now we've just got to get Saki out of here!" cried Mikado.

A momentary look of guilt flashed over Masaomi's face. The brunet saw it, eyes widening ever so slightly, understanding what it meant. Neither boy moved to stop what was happening as Izumii pushed Masaomi off of himself. Growling, he got to his feet. In this interval of fighting, Saki had struggled to get to her feet, but found to her dismay that her legs wouldn't support her weight. As Izumii walked closer, she was left to hold on to a tree trunk and try to hold herself up. She knew she must be a pitiful spectacle, but there was nothing she could do. Effortlessly, he pushed her to the ground, kneeling over her with the knife in his left hand. He grabbed her inner forearm with this hand, brought his right hand back in a fist-

"No!" Mikado leapt forward, but Masaomi held him back-

-and swung until it connected with the side of Saki's head. A cannon sounded.

Masaomi looked pained, but Mikado took off running toward Izumii. "You, you evil little- how could-"

Turning tail, Izumii took off running, putting his dagger (which was bloody now) back into his pocket.

In a tone devoid of emotion, Masaomi called after his friend. "Mikado."

Pausing in his pursuit, the boy turned to look at him.

"It's over. Give it up. You'll get your chance another time, ok?"

"How can you be so calm after what he did to Saki?" He came and sat down next to him.

"Mikado, I know he was awful, but he was right."

"About _what?"_

"We're in the Hunger Games. People die; that's the whole point of this thing. Some people are _destined_ to die earlier than others; you know that, don't you?"

"Of course I know that! I know why he killed her, but he didn't have to be so cruel about it!"

* * *

Yumasaki Walker sat on a large rock, tapping his foot impatiently and looking around through his constant squint. On his lap was his backpack, and he was clutching it as if it held something extremely important. If anyone around had cared enough to smell the area, they might have thought about gasoline, but would probably have dismissed the thought. After all, how would gasoline have found its way into this arena?

At some noise, Walker perked up. Erika emerged from the trees and walked up to him.

"Have you done it?" he asked. "Are they in place?"

"Yep! All set and ready to go! You probably want to get a move on, though. I couldn't tell you how long they'll stay put; they seem to be pretty flighty. One of them keeps talking about her boyfriend Seji who's back home, but it sounds like the other one has a boyfriend in the games. He's probably not going to be happy…"

"Is Dotachin around?"

"Yep. He's in the background, but he came to watch the fun."

"Then there's nothing to worry about, angry boyfriends or not." He hopped down from his perch on the rock, turning his squinting eyes toward Erika. He smiled. "Shall we?"

"Lead the way, Yumacci-sama!"

* * *

"I feel like he'd like me more if I looked different, to be honest." Harima Mika rested her chin in her hands.

"But you're beautiful!"

"I _know_ ," she smiled, "thanks, by the way. It's just… he's got such a specific definition of beauty, if you know what I mean."

"I'm not so sure I do."

"Oh, you know, short red hair, light-colored eyes-"

The brown-haired girl suddenly got to her feet, pointing to their right. "What's that?"

"What's wha- Oh!" She jumped up. Racing toward the two of them was a wall of flame. Before they could take a step backward, it had completely surrounded them. They clung together, shrieking at the top of their lungs.

* * *

Walker stood, arms folded, looking at the destruction. His smile was wide, and his constantly squinting eyes were wide open. "When you really get down to it, I don't care about red hair or any of that; _this_ is my definition of beautiful."

* * *

The control room had finally livened up.

"I guess we should've gone for the avalanche after all, right, sir?" Aozaki asked, grinning.

"Yes," Shiki replied, "Yumasaki seems to have us covered on the fire front. Put down a note that he should receive pyrotechnic supplies if his district sends support."

"Yes, sir!"

"Akabayashi, what's the status of the two girls in the fire?"

"Still alive right now, but the screaming says that they won't be for too much longer."

Grimacing, Shiki shook his head. "I don't envy them, that's for sure."

"One down!"

"Cannon!"

"On it, sir!"

"Second one gone!"

"Cannon!"

"Done!"

Shiki crossed his arms and watched the flames dance across the screen. A hovercraft came into view, lowering down two claws and grabbing the two girls. As it slowly raised them up into the air, Shiki leaned forward, a frown on his face. "Is it just me," he mumbled, "or do they not look very burned?"

"Sorry, what was that, sir?"

He straightened up. "Where's Tsukumoya?"

"I think he had to go talk to someone; he's probably in the hall."

"Get him in here."

"Sir!" The man sprang to his feet, nodding to Shiki in deference, and then ran out the door.

Shiki shook his head again. "Something doesn't sit right with me."

Screen after screen decorated the front wall, each focusing on different tributes. On one, they could see Shizuo stomping through the forest muttering something that was probably directed at Izaya, when he suddenly stopped at the sight of a beautiful blonde girl in front of him. On a different screen, Mikado and Masaomi parted ways, with Masaomi headed in the direction of another tribute. In the center, on the biggest screen, they had pulled up footage of the dying flames. Something was moving on the left, and they soon saw a boy with reddish brown hair run onto the scene. He whirled around, taking in what had happened. After a moment of looking, he caught sight of Walker, who was running off, and took off after him, quickly getting out of that camera's range. Erika, too, ran off screen, but in a different direction. The center screen then started switching between footage, deciding which tribute to focus on at that moment.

The door creaked open. "You asked for me, Shiki-san?"

Brushing past desks and chairs, Shiki made his way over to the door. "Yes, come with me." He grabbed Tsukumoya's shoulder and dragged him back out of the door he just came in.

Once they were a short distance down the hall and safely out of earshot, Shiki relaxed his grip.

"Is something wrong, sir?"

"I'm not entirely sure, but I want you to find out."

"At your service. What exactly am I finding out?"

"I know you were out of the control room at the moment, but did you happen to see the footage of Yumasaki's fire?"

"I saw it on the small monitor in the hall, yes."

"Then you'll understand when I say that those two bodies didn't look like they had been through as big of a fire as they had."

Tsukumoya remained quiet.

"This is where you come in. When that ship comes in, I want you to examine those bodies and make sure that they're really dead. If they're not, I want you to notify me immediately, and then _make_ them dead. Is this clear?"

"Yes, Shiki-san."

* * *

 **Despite what you may think, I am _not_ dead, and I have _not_ given up on this one. College was kicking my butt, so hooray for summer! Hopefully, I'll be bothering you every once and a while before August rolls around.**

 **Now that you've seen Izaya's plan, this chapter leads into some of the conflict I have planned for the following chapters...**

 **Please, let me know what you think! (Sorry for leaving y'all for so long...)**

 **~JW**

 **(Also, anybody seen Owari no Seraph yet? Anyone know when season 3's coming out? Anyone know where I can read the light novel/manga online?)**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 5

Masaomi sized up the boy standing in front of him. He was lanky, not too short, but not incredibly tall, either. While he didn't seem to be the most physically formidable person, his brown eyes and odd smirk combined to make his face far more devious than Masaomi was comfortable with. "What's your name?"

"Kuronuma Aoba. Pleasure to meet you, Kida Masaomi." His smile grew wider.

"Did your research before you came into the arena, then?"

"Of course!" He spread out his arms wide in a sweeping motion. "It wouldn't do to be unprepared, after all. The real question is: did _you_ do your research?"

Narrowing his eyes, Masaomi replied, "What are you implying?"

"As this is a life-or-death game, let me get to the point: How much do you trust Izaya?"

"Not much. I despise the kid, if we're being honest here."

"Good. We're on the same page, then. That'll make this relatively simple. What do you think he's _really_ up to?"

 _What on earth is this kid trying to pull? He doesn't look stupid; he should know that we can't talk about the plan while we're on camera._ "What everyone else is trying to do: survive."

"No, no, no. You know what I _mean_. He doesn't seem like the giving type to me. Why volunteer at all? Why do _this?_ " He gestured again, making a sweeping motion with his arms.

 _You'd better shut up_ right now _, kid. Are you trying to get us all killed?_

"I don't trust him as far as I can throw a stick." continued Aoba, "Just what is he trying to _accomplish?_ I don't like it, and I don't like the idea of going along with whatever h-" Suddenly, his voice was cut off, as Masaomi had sprung forward, pinning his neck between a left arm and a tree trunk.

"Now listen here, kid," he growled. "I may not trust Orihara Izaya, but I _definitely_ don't trust _you_. And, like Izaya, I happen to be a volunteer. There's more than one reason to play in the games." He didn't notice Aoba's glance at his arm, or the subsequent grin. "Not all of us are saints, you know. I know a lot of people who just volunteer for the heck of it. They love the freedom. I can't say I blame them. I can do things like _this_ ," he punctuated his words by delivering a sharp right hook to Aoba's face, "without facing consequences."

Aoba spit out the blood gathering in his mouth, landing a point blank shot at Masaomi's face, which earned him a prompt drop onto the ground. As he raised a hand to his mouth, trying to nurse his wounds, his eyes looked to Masaomi's left. "You can certainly do things like that in the Hunger Games. I won't deny you that one. I'm not so sure about the whole 'no consequences' thing, though." He smiled as well as his swollen lip would allow.

One second, Masaomi was looking at Aoba with a triumphant smile, the next he was smacked into the ground on his back. "Wh-what?" he groaned.

"Did he hurt you, Aoba-kun?"

"Healthy? [Will you be alright?]"

"Yeah," the blue-haired boy looked up at them with an even bigger smile, "I'm always alright as long as you girls are around. Mairu, Kururi, where would I be without you?"

Standing in front of him were two girls, apparently twins. One had long brown hair, which was pulled back into a braid, and glasses. The other had very short hair and a subdued look on her face. Both were looking at Aoba with concern. Mairu, the one with the braid, seemed satisfied that Aoba was in no immediate danger and whipped around to face Masaomi.

"How dare you try and hurt our friend? You could've seriously injured him!" she exclaimed, hands on her hips.

The words "Well, that was kinda my intention" seemed foolish, so Masaomi decided to keep his mouth shut.

"Oh? Nothing to say?" Leaning down right next to his face, she stared at him, eyes wide. "Have Kuru-nee and I scared you into submission? My awesome moves beat you senseless?" When he didn't reply, she continued, "No? Looks like we've gotta try another round, then!"

He felt himself hoisted to his feet by strong arms, which he assumed to be Kururi, since the other two were still in his line of sight. When she let go of him, he was pleased to note that he could keep his balance. Mairu got in a fighting stance in front of him, then grinned widely. He easily dodged her first kick, narrowly missed a punch, and was only grazed by the second foot. It went downhill from there. He lost track of where her hands and feet were going and focused on staying upright, absorbing hit after hit. He managed to land at least one kick, but he might as well have not tried for all the good it did him. Mairu was everywhere, and he thought he caught sight of her standing on her hands at one point in time. For a split second, he couldn't find her, then he saw her launch herself off a tree, and he knew he was done for. Her feet collided solidly with his face, and he was pounded into the ground. Trees and sky swirled in his field of vision, and three smiling faces slowly came into focus. Aoba held up a small knife he must have picked up somewhere, and Masaomi felt a sharp pain in his neck and then his arm. A cannon went off, and the three began to back away.

"Have a good sleep!" Aoba said, waving mockingly at him. "Thanks for all the fun!"

* * *

"Shiki-san?" Tsukumoya pushed open the door again. All the workers had their eyes on the screens, watching Masaomi's body getting removed from the arena. Catching Shiki's eye, he motioned him over to the door in order to save him the trouble of dragging him across the room again.

Within seconds, Shiki had followed him back out the door. He crossed his arms, eyes narrowed. "Well? What's the verdict?"

"It must've been a bad camera angle. You just couldn't see the damage from a distance. The girls are definitely charred and completely dead."

* * *

"Get back here! Do you feel no remorse?!" Rokujo Chikage, the red-haired boy, called after the retreating form of Yumasaki Walker, who was ever so slowly getting closer.

"What is there," Chikage could hear him panting, "to regret?"

"Everything! You killed two people, but more than that, you killed two _girls!_ Girls are to be," he was closing the gap between them with every pounding step he took, "protected! And loved! And cared for!" He could almost reach him. Three more, two more steps? "I would _never_ hurt a girl! Anyone who _does,_ " got him! He grabbed the loop on the top of Walker's backpack and pulled him backwards, ignoring the stench of gasoline, "is my enemy." In an effortless motion, he tugged the pack off of Walker, threw it several feet to the side, and latched on to the boy's elbow. "Well?" he put his forehead up to Walker's, looking him in the eye. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

"I didn't do anything wrong! Besides, this is the only place my awesome pyrotechnic powers can be fully appreciated. It's not every day I get to play the hero without restraint. I was using my skills to try and empty out the playing field. That's within the bounds of the game, isn't it?"

"I don't find it 'within the bound of the game' when my girlfriend loses her life!"

"Maybe I should say it differently."

"That'd be a good start, kid." He now had a firm grip on both of Walker's upper arms, and was trying to restrain himself from punching his face off.

"I'm not just some vagabond who doesn't care about others. In fact-"

"Well, you do a superb job of acting like one."

He frowned at Chikage. "In _fact_ , I'm only doing this because of how much I _do_ care for someone."

"What's their name, then?"

"I'm not telling you. Who knows if you'd get an idea in your head and hurt her because of what I've done!"

"I don't believe you!"

"It doesn't matter if you believe me or not! I'm doing this for her, and I don't regret anything!"

"Let's say that you _are_. It doesn't make a difference."

"I think it _does_ , Chivalry-san."

"Let me tell you something." He shifted his grip from Walker's arms to his throat, pushing the boy against a tree. "If you die in the Hunger Games, it's acceptable because you're defeated by another player. You can't be stronger than everyone. If you kill another player, it's acceptable because you defeated someone. You get to live another day. But, if you act inhumanely to your fellow tributes, whether you kill them or not, it means you've been defeated by the Capital. That's _not_ acceptable."

"If I do everything on my own terms," he choked out, "I haven't been beaten by anyone, have I?" Chikage relented ever so slightly so Walker could give his last excuse. "What I did might look cruel, but I will do anything and everything to save the life of the one I love, whether it's making a contract with a demon, getting stuck in an alternate universe, sacrificing one of my limbs, or burning someone to death. Call me whatever you want; I'm willing to be branded as the villain as long as she comes out of these games alive." Then, as an afterthought, "I guess this makes me the shunned hero character, doesn't it? It could be worse, I guess."

"Whatever your excuse, I can't forgive you!" He resumed his crushing grip on Walker's throat. "I love- loved- Non too much for that! You're _dead!"_ he shouted. And the boy would've been, if someone hadn't pulled Chikage off Walker at that very moment.

"D-Dotachin?" Walker rasped.

"And who are _you?"_ Chikage shouted, furious that he couldn't deliver the finishing blow. He turned to face the boy who had grabbed him. He was sturdily built, with brown hair tucked underneath a grey beanie, or maybe it was a bandana. Chikage frankly didn't care. " _Now_ what? Do you have your _own_ insane reason for getting in the way of honor?"

"Kyohei Kadota."

He blinked. "Sorry, what?"

"You asked who I was. My name is Kyohei Kadota. What's your problem with Walker here?"

" _Everything!"_ He threw his hands in the air, stepping closer to Kadota. "What _isn't_ my problem with him?"

"Now, just calm down for a-"

"I refuse to be calm when a lady's honor is on the line!" he growled.

Kadota sighed. Why didn't anyone default to reasoning instead of unbridled emotion? "Is it safe to assume that he killed someone you care about?"

"Yes. A _girl._ And he refuses to acknowledge that he's done anything wrong."

Well, that was Walker all over. The boy had the strangest morals Kadota had ever set eyes on. Of course, this was probably not something to share with a deranged redhead who wanted the boy dead. "What's your name?"

"Rokujo Chikage."

"Well, Chikage, I'm sorry for your loss."

" _You're_ sorry? That doesn't do me any-"

"I'm sorry because I feel I'm partially to blame," Kadota stated, hoping some of his calm demeanor would leak over to Chikage.

"And how do you figure that?"

"Walker and I go way back; we used to be in the same district until an… incident a couple of years ago. He's always looked up to me, and I look out for him and give him advice when he asks for it. I knew what he was planning to do to your girl, and I didn't stop him; I just looked on and let him do it. I didn't know how much she meant to you, so I apologize. I understand that you want repayment for Walker's actions. I'd want that, too, to be honest, but like I said, I care about him, so I can't let you kill him. " Walker saw what he was trying to do and began to push himself off from the tree he was leaning on, but Kadota waved him down. "So, I'll offer you an alternative." He spread out his hands in a gesture of surrender. "Take me instead. I should have stopped him, anyway, so you'll still have your justice. What do you think?"

Chikage seemed taken aback, mouth hanging slightly open. Then he shut it, weighing what the boy had just said. "You're actually willing to take the fall for your friend?"

"Absolutely. Go ahead and fight me. Of course, you should know that I won't be holding back."

A wide smile broke across the redhead's face. "I wouldn't want it any other way! It's been forever since I've had a proper duel."

Walker took this as his cue to make a hasty exit.


End file.
